She’d been so busy holed up in her office, going over legal documents and meeting clients, that she hadn’t enjoyed any activity like this in ages. Why hadn’t she ever made the time before?
She could tell by the looks her mother and Chuck were giving each other that they were happy with the way the day had turned out. It was great that Chuck had restored this boat, and clearly, her mother enjoyed having it. It was something they could do together, but a little part of her wondered how he’d paid for it. Had it been all his money, or had Deena chipped in? It was none of her business, though, and why shouldn’t her mother have chipped in if she enjoyed it too?
“You know, you and Cole have a lot more in common than you might think.” Deena produced some cheese and crackers from her blue nautical tote bag and laid them out on a small tray, which she passed around.
“How so?” Cole took a cracker and glanced at Sam.
“Well, you’re both hard workers,” Deena said.
“And you both chose a profession where you can help others,” Chuck added.
Sam’s eyes narrowed. She still had no idea what Cole did. “You help others?”
Cole nodded. “Sort of. Not as much as you. I’m in law enforcement.”
“Oh.” That was not what Sam had been expecting, given her previous suspicions of him being a con man. But someone in law enforcement would hardly be running scams on widows—further proof that she’d been wrong about Chuck and Cole.
Deena nibbled a little bit of cheese. “Sam, you help people at the worst time of their lives, when their relationships are falling apart and they’ve been betrayed by the person they thought was closest to them. You help them get what they deserve out of the divorce. You help them get justice.” Deena turned to Cole. “And Cole, you help people get justice as well at an even worse time of their lives, when someone has been killed or kidnapped or a heinous crime has been committed.”
Sam looked at Cole with new eyes. “I guess we kinda do have that in common.”
“I guess so.” Cole smiled at her, the setting sun highlighting the flecks of amber in his green eyes, and for the first time, she thought she saw a look of warmth in their depths. Maybe they could be friends after all.
That made the task of returning Chuck’s wallet to Saltwater Sweets all the more important.
CHAPTER18
Gina was having a hard time believing the story Hugh was spinning.
They’d moved into her space in the storage room because Hugh claimed that his life was in danger if certain people found out where he was. Gina hadn’t envisioned finding Hugh this way. She should probably turn him in to the police, but this could be her only chance to get her money back. He probably wouldn’t be able to pay her any money from inside a jail cell.
“I swear I had no idea Holly had taken the money.” Hugh looked down at his feet, his cheeks turning red. “I thought we were just running off together.”
Gina crossed her arms over her chest. She was over Hugh and didn’t have feelings for him, but it still stung that he was so intent on running away with Holly that he didn’t even notice she had been embezzling money. Then again, Hugh was an accomplished liar and would say almost anything to manipulate her, so he could have made that part up.
“Didn’t you think it was weird that, all of a sudden, she had all this money?” Gina asked. “And what about our personal savings account? How would she get into that?”
“Well, that part actually was me. But I figured since I was leaving you with the entire business and all the business accounts, we were even.” Hugh gave her that faux-innocent look that had always worked in the past.
Not this time.
“I see. So you were just going to take all of our money, disappear, and live on some tropical island happily ever after with Holly?”
“I don’t know what I was thinking. I lost my mind. But as soon as I found out what she’d done to the business, I got the heck out of there.”
Trying to save his own hide, as usual.
“So let me get this straight. You left all the money with Holly and came back here… for what?”
“I didn’t leaveallthe money. Our savings was in a separate account from what Holly had taken. I managed to salvage that and maybe a little more. But the problem is now the authorities think I took all that money, and even worse, so does Mark Richards, the big developer who had put all that money down on his office renovation.”
Gina wouldn’t be surprised if Hugh was lying and trying to blame it all on Holly because he was now clearly in some sort of trouble. It didn’t matter. Whatdidmatter was Hugh had their money, and that meant she had a chance to get her half back.
“Actually, I’m more afraid of Richards than of the police.” Hugh gave a nervous laugh. “That’s why I’ve been looking for you. You’re the only one who can help me.”
“Wait. You’ve beenlookingfor me?” Was Hugh the person Ellie had heard about? Gina hoped so because anyone else looking for her would be a lot scarier.
“Yes. I didn’t realize you changed your last name. We’re not even divorced.” Somehow, Hugh managed to sound like he was the one who had been wronged.
